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Enjoy Beautiful txʷskʷaqʷ

Pronounced “toohk – SKWAHK- w”, with the last letter replicating the sound of blown air. This is the place where Clarks Creek enters into the Puyallup River and translates to “Place of the Raven”.

“Before colonial settlers came to our territories, all the places that have English names had names in lushootseed. These paintings highlight the importance of remembering what those names were. The names that my ancestors gave to these places were often descriptions of the natural characteristics of the land. “bastiqiyu” translates to “it has wolves” meaning that you were likely to encounter a wolf at or near that place. “txsIaR ” translates into “place of the raven.” It is important to remember these characteristics my ancestors identified and to remember the language that my ancestors spoke.

In this time that governments and institutions are saying “land acknowledgments” before meeting and gatherings, it is very important that we not only acknowledge the land, but we acknowledge the language that my ancestors spoke and the individual characteristics of the land that lived on.”